Argh.

I am frustrated. I decided to make Zokni Socks (http://pepperknit.com/patterns/zokni.html) and started the first one yesterday. I finished four repeats of the lace pattern and tried it on. I could barely get it over my heel, and it was uncomfortably snug. So I'm going to frog it and start over, with a larger needle. But I'll have to wait. I don't have a long enough, flexible enough needle in the size I need. I think I'll get a few other sizes while I'm at it. I want to make Bayerische Socks (http://www.eunnyjang.com/knit/2006/09/bayerische_sock_part_ii.html), for which I'll need a size 0 needle. The smallest size I have is 1.

So.....I guess I'll work on one of my many other projects while I'm waiting. I want to get my Upstream scarf finished, so I can submit the pattern to Knit Picks. Speaking of Knit Picks, I'm hoping to see my Posy Patch pattern on their site next week. I haven't heard from them in over a week, but I know that they are introducing their new colors soon; perhaps next week. I'll definitely post about it when it is published.

My "boring socks" are done!

I finished my "boring socks"!!! ☺ I had decided, months ago, that I wanted to get into sock-knitting, and I downloaded a bunch of beautiful sock patterns, with cables and lace. But I thought I ought to make a plain stockinette pair first, to get the techniques figured out. And I had two skeins of a variegated yarn that weren't ideal for intricate cables or lace anyway. So I started the "boring socks"; so named because working on it(the first one) was insanely boring. In fact, it was so boring that I put it away to work on more interesting projects.

♥

Recently, as you may remember, I sorted through my hibernating projects, and almost decided to frog the first, incomplete sock. But I tried it on, and realized it was only a few inches from being done, and it was very comfy. Last Saturday I decided to learn Magic Loop, and work on the sock. And I finished it before bedtime, so I cast on the second one immediately; I've heard that's the way to prevent Second Sock Syndrome. And, compulsive knitter that I am, I was unable to knit a single stitch on any other project since then. The result is that, half a week later, I have a finished pair of very comfy socks! Having learned Magic Loop made the second sock much less boring than the first, since it went so quickly.

Vital stats on the socks: I used 2 skeins of Premier Yarns Serenity Sockweight(50%superwash wool/25%bamboo/25%nylon) in the colorway "Lavender Topaz". The picture is very true to the colors: medium blue, navy blue and grey.

The pattern is Silver's Sock Class, which is an excellent introduction to sock knitting. http://www.cometosilver.com/socks/SockClass_Start.htm

♥

I can hardly wait for the weather to cool down so I can wear my new socks!

A Big Blessing!

A friend of mine posted on Facebook yesterday that she had a full-size bed to give away free. I have wanted for a long time to get a new bed for Princess and Kitty, but beds are expensive, and the budget didn't allow for it. So I haven't been able to get one. The girls are fairly destructive, and their daybed was beginning to fall apart. I spoke up quickly and laid claim to the bed before anyone else could.

Here's a picture of their room before we cleaned it up and took out the old bed.
I moved the dresser to the center of the wall where the daybed had been, and put the new bed where the dresser had been. It's just a frame, and boxspring and mattress set. I'm planning on either painting a faux-headboard on the wall above the bed, or making an upholstered one and attaching it to the wall.

I discovered that the bed was actually a queen size, so naturally the full size sheets I had bought for it didn't fit. So the girls slept with an old blanket as their sheet last night. They were so excited that they decided, on their own, to go to bed at 6:30! After they were in bed, I went and exchanged the sheets. I made up the bed with the new sheets this morning. They'll keep using their twin size comforters for now. Queen size comforters are a bit expensive.

Walmart didn't have any bedskirts in the right size and color scheme, so I bought some fabric, and I'm going to make one.

We'll see whether they actually keep their room this clean...

Lovely friends!

Here's a picture from yesterday's BunkerBabe meetup!
That's me, on the left, Skully next to me, IBAmyB next to her, with my daughter Princess in front of her, and Whimzee on the right, hiding behind Amy. Angel was playing photographer, so she's not in the picture. Kitty was hanging out with Daddy, because she tends to go a little wild in yarn stores.

Anyway, we met at a yarn store downtown, and (amazingly) I didn't get lost! I didn't buy any yarn this time. I really wanted to, but I had decided I would only buy yarn if I already had a plan for what to make with it. I'm on a self-imposed(hubby-imposed) yarn diet. I finally got a chance to look through the new Vogue Stitchionary, and came to the decision that I didn't need it after all. I had thought, since it was all about lace, and I love lace, that I would definitely want to buy that book. But when I glanced through it, the designs just didn't jump out at me. But I had fun looking at the books, and feeling yarns. This yarn store was the biggest one I've been to, and they had such a large selection. So many beautiful yarns...so little time.

It was great to get together with the Bunker Babes. I hadn't met any of them in person before yesterday, but it seemed like we've known each other forever. It's hard to believe that we only "met" online about a year and a half ago. I found the original Bunker right after the election in 2008. We've really grown into a close-knit(pun intended) group since then. We visited, knitted, shopped, and ate. We had a yummy lunch at a little restaurant near the yarn store. The food was terrific!☺

Well, I've got to run now; it's time to go to church. ♥

Disappointment, and Excitement

Well...Knit Picks is not interested in my bookmarks. Oh, well. It's most likely because a little tiny project like that won't sell much yarn. I think I might just self-publish this one, like I've done with my other patterns so far. Bookmarks are a great stash-buster.

I get to meet some of my best friends in the world tomorrow! I'm so excited. I'm sure Casey had no idea when he kicked us out of his little kingdom, that we'd grow closer together and not miss him. ☺ Yes, that's right, I'm having a meetup with some BunkerBabes. I've only met one so far, and none of the ones who live in the same city as I do. So I am, naturally, ecstatic. I'll try to get a few good pictures to post here.

Ravelry? WE don't need no stinkin' Ravelry! Haha!

Designin' and Knittin'

I sent my Posy Patch pattern to Knit Picks this morning! They still have to make their final decision, but I'm fairly confident....I think. Haha. Anyway, now that I've got that project and pattern finished, I've been working on a few other designs. My Upstream scarf is progressing nicely; it's over 2 feet long.
I was struck by inspiration a few days ago...I wanted to make some laceweight bookmarks. After I had made two of them, and taken a few pictures, I decided I needed two more. You see, when I took the pictures, I just grabbed one of my daughter's classic books, and it happened to be "Little Women." I opened it up to a random page and took the pictures. After I had taken the pictures, I noticed that the characters in the story were knitting on that page. ☺ Some of my friends suggested naming the patterns after the characters in the story, and I decided that there ought to be four of them in that case. So here are my four bookmarks...

From top to bottom: Amy, Beth, Jo and Meg. I wrote down the patterns for all four, and made it one pattern for the whole set. This pattern is on its way to Knit Picks also. I hope they like it!

Organizing

I hardly knit anything yesterday. Instead I cleaned and organized. I had projects all over the place, several of which I haven't worked on in ages. So I gathered them all into a pile...at least I think this was all of them...
And I began making decisions. First of all, most of these are current projects; I didn't have as many hibernating as I had thought. So of course I'm keeping the current ones. I put each project into its own bag, and put them away.
The pink and purple fun fur blob is a blanket I started over a year ago, and put away because I hate working with fun fur. I didn't know when I started the project that I hate it, or I never would have started it. I can't frog it, because of the way fun fur sticks to itself. And I can't throw it away, because Angel would be heartbroken. She really wants that blanket. So I've decided I'm going to try to get this one knocked out quickly, so that I won't have to wish any longer for it to disappear.
The large blue blob next to the fun fur is one of my Julia Lynne cardigans; it was the largest size, and I knitted it far enough to write the pattern, but didn't ever finish it. The reason why: I discovered that I had two different dyelots, and they really were different. So I decided to frog that one. I still had two skeins I hadn't even started using, so I'm going to attempt to sell them to one of my yarny friends, and throw in the re-wound center-pull balls for free.
The little burgundy blob is a doll dress I started around Christmastime. Since it's just stockinette in the round at this point, I gave it to Angel, along with a crash-course in using double-pointed needles. I think she can handle it.
So that takes care of the hibernating projects...oh, yeah, except for the boring sock. I was going to frog it, because it's so freaking boring to work on, but I tried it on, and I really only have a couple inches to go on it, and it's very comfy and warm....so I'm keeping it, and I plan to make it second in priority after the fun fur monstrosity.
Oh, and then there's Surf(the bluish-greenish blob). It's been hibernating for a couple months, so it hardly counts. I need to get that one done, too, since it's a gift. I had intended to give it to my friend with the idea of using it as a swimsuit coverup. By the time it's done, it'll probably be fall, so I think I'll just go back to calling it a shawl for a cool morning walk on the beach.

Oops....I just realized I forgot about the "banana bag" I started for my sister over a year ago and haven't finished....I wonder where that is....

Finishing and Starting

I finished my Posy Patch blanket I was making as a sample to send to Knit Picks! It's blocking on the floor in my family room at this moment. I took a couple pictures, but I can't post them. Sorry about that. I've got the pattern almost ready; just need to get some good pictures with the blanket; I'm going to try taking it out into my back yard and see if I can get any good shots out there. But right now it's too humid; everything is wet. Maybe this afternoon or evening, if the sunshine finally dries everything out. It's been raining off and on, pretty much every day for the past two weeks. And not getting enough sunshine in between showers to dry. So everything is really soggy.

♥

To make up for not being able to post pictures of my finished blanket, here's a picture of my newest project.

I started this one last night. I know, I have a gazillion projects on my needles, but after the marathon knitting sessions I've had to get the previously-mentioned blanket done, I wanted something new to work on. I tried to distract myself from that urge by working on Angel's shawl, but it was excruciating. From now on, I'm going to listen to my urges, because if I had, my new project would be further-along, and I could focus better on that shawl...or the cabled scarf that's on the table in front of me...or the shawl that's in a bag across the room from me...or the white lace that's in another bag a few feet away from me...Oh, sorry...focus issues, like I said.

♥

Anyway, this new project is also going to be a baby blanket, but with a different design. As you can see, I started it in the center, and it will have four identical triangular panels making up the square. It's going to be "diamond lace all over", and should be a simple, mindless knit. I almost didn't have to think at all while I made up the chart for this one. ;) The great thing about knitting a square in-the-round is that I don't ever have to purl! Well, until I reach the border anyway. I haven't thought that far ahead yet. I'm just going to let the yarn tell me what to do with it. It's Paton's Bamboo Baby(luxurious, silky-soft bamboo/acrylic), and I have the colorway you see in the picture, and a solid light peachy-pink to go with it. I'm planning on doing stripes with the two yarns. I found the yarn on clearance, and I just bought up all they had, so I have to make it work somehow. I hope it's enough for a decent-sized baby blanket. If it doesn't appear to be, I suppose I could go look for some other coordinating color in the same type of yarn....

♥

Back to knitting

I took a little time today to work on some of my WIPs(works in progress). Here's my white lace:

It still doesn't have a name, but I'm narrowing down my ideas.

And here's a very brightly colored "Cathie" scarf. I'm planning on giving it as a Christmas gift; I don't know yet who it's for.

And in this bag is my latest Posy Patch.

It's about 4/5 done. But I still have to keep it hidden, until the new colors are released. It's a very pretty color, and that's all I'm saying for now. ☺

♥

About the dryer balls in my previous post: they really do work. I've been doing a lot of laundry in the past two days, and not using dryer sheets, just the balls. My laundry is fluffy and static-free! I think I'll just use the dryer balls from now on, and save the dryer sheets for keeping mosquitoes away when I'm working in the yard.